Friday, October 22, 2010

Parents: "Trust But Verify"

I have removed this post. Here's why.

In it I told of something I recently heard at an elementary school in the Alpine School District. My intent in reporting it in the first place was to emphasize that parents need to pay attention to what's happening at school, not just what the schools send home with students. I also wanted to show that we still have a way to go in our battle for an effective math curriculum in each school.

Since then, others have used my story for their own purposes. Some have used it to support conclusions and demands which are inappropriate and extreme. Some have exaggerated, distorted, or misread it. I do not wish to be a party to such abuses.

As far as I am concerned, this race is about two honorable men who have different visions of what makes a good school board. Any attempt to destroy anyone, personally or professionally, along the way is unworthy of the good people of Utah and the Alpine School District and damages the cause of good government.

Oddly (or not), similiar "placating" is just what seemed to happen at our mid-Atlantic school district when parents complained about Investigations. First, the math office tried more parent 'math nights'. Didn't work. We elected new board members. Then, administrators implemented an 'action plan' with computer-based math facts. By April, only 28% of third graders had mastered addition facts, and only 46% of 5th graders had mastered multiplication facts 8 months into the school year. Kids in our district were missing these critical NMAP benchmarks. Not surprisingly, WE WERE NOT PLACATED, NOR WERE CRITICAL BOARD MEMBERS!! Fast forward 6 months -- our Math Review Committee will be recommending alternative math programs to the school board this Monday night. YAY!!! The moral of the story: keep advocates like Tim on your school board :-)

Hi, this is interesting. Barb, I see your above post. Whereabouts are you located? I'm near Las Vegas, NV and my children are in a school that teaches Investigations. I hate it and I'm working with a few other parents to try to figure out what to do about it. Have any ideas you'd like to share. It would be nice to talk to someone in a similar situation.

More about the campaign

About Me

Finishing first term on Alpine School Board. Employed as a manufacturing engineer in the aerospace industry. Active in trying to improve math and science instruction in the Alpine School District. Working to revise district mission, values, and goals to reflect the people's values instead of the establishment's.In sixth year as an American Fork High School Marching Band "band dad."